The sequence started as Houston’s Adam Moffat and the Revolution’s Pat Phelan and Reis were pursuing a ball toward the corner flag. As the ball rolled out of bounds for what would have resulted in a Revolution throw-in, Moffat appeared to knock down Phelan from behind. As Phelan remained face down, Reis picked up the ball before a verbal confrontation began with Moffat. Kennedy signaled the end of the game as he ran to where the players were, near the visiting team tunnel.

“Moffat received a second caution for committing an act which, in the opinion of the referee, shows lack of respect for the game and was sent off for a second-caution offense. Reis was sent off for use of offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures,’’ Kennedy said in a statement.

Before the ejection had been confirmed, Revolution coach Steve Nicol said, “I hope common sense prevails. It’s one of those nonsense things that happens now and again. Hopefully, the officials will use common sense. Nobody deserves to get a red card. It’s a lot of huffing and puffing.’’

Said Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph: “I think the most he could get is a yellow. I mean, Michael shouldn’t allow Pat to get hit like that. Especially Pat, who has probably had two or three concussions so far in his career. He’s got to protect the player. I mean, you knew something like that was going to happen. Patty and Matty were just trying to shield off the ball. That was just irresponsible on [Moffat’s] part, trying to hit Pat in the back. We were all worried about him. Matty is just standing up for his player. He’s one of the veterans, protecting his player, and that’s what good players do.’’

Special significance Ryan Cochrane scored his first goal since joining the Revolution after playing for Houston last season.

“It’s always good to get that goal against your old team,’’ he said. “Obviously, it means a little more than any goal you would score.’’

Cochrane said he decided not to follow through with a goal celebration that would have involved Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear.

“I was going to hop over the boards and sit next to Dom,’’ Cochrane said. “It didn’t work out. It’s probably for the best. I don’t think Dom would have been too pleased with that.’’

Cochrane was replaced by Phelan after experiencing concussion symptoms, resulting from a clash with Houston forward Cam Weaver.

“Obviously, I did want to see that result through,’’ Cochrane said. “If we could have held on to the game-winning goal it would have been nice to be on the field for that.

“I think we played all right for the first 30 minutes of the game. I thought we were all right in the second half. They had more of the play, but that tends to happen when you’re trying to hold onto a single-goal lead, you tend to bunker in a little bit. We’ve got to stop really doing that.

“Houston is a good team, they push you and attack you, and they had us back on our heels for long periods of time. I feel like we were soaking up a lot of pressure. At the end of the day, we could have had the result and it’s a huge letdown to let 3 points slip away like that at the very end.’’

Central figures The Cochrane-A.J. Soares central defensive pairing functioned well.

“Ryan’s the bomb, when he goes off you lose a little leadership, a little experience,’’ Soares said. “Pat’s an awesome player, so that’s not the problem. I think trying to prevent the corner at the end is the one thing we could have done. If you give Houston a corner you’re taking a chance they’re going to score. It’s a big team, they’re going to loft it up there. It wasn’t a problem with marking or anything. But knowing they’re good in the air and all that, the thing to do would be to prevent the corner. It was a tough one, Pat was running back and he did well to get that ball out of bounds.

“It’s really tough, we needed the 3 [points] for the standings, we needed it for the spirit, too. But that being said, we’re going to drop this game and move on to to New York, quick turnaround.’’

Frank Dell’Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.